Heaven and hell

In the midst of a discussion on religion this past Saturday, the question "do you believe in heaven and hell?" was posed. I could not answer the question back in July 2005:
I still haven’t been able to wrap my head around the idea that our short time on earth destines us a place in either heaven or hell for eternity. And I say again: there’s no point in worrying about something out of my control. If that exists, I’m sure I will be taken care of one way or another if I lead a good life on earth. It’ll just be the cherry on top of an already delicious sundae [I hope I am not overly optimistic in hoping that I will either be cured of my lactose intolerance or that there exists lactose free sundaes in heaven].

As a child, I thought heaven and hell were physical concepts. This time around, a new concept came to me. We hear from people who survived [obviously] near-death experiences that their lives flashed before their lives when they thought they were going to die. I think that when you realize your life is about to end, reliving your experiences in that split-second could feel like a lifetime. If you lived a good life and reviewed scenes from it, it would probably give you a comforting sense of satisfaction. If you lived a bad life and reviewed scenes from it, the regret that rush you must tortue you for what feels like an eternity.